


Hello Kitty

by thatmitchsentho



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2016-12-07
Packaged: 2018-09-07 03:05:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8780674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatmitchsentho/pseuds/thatmitchsentho
Summary: Mitchsen AU. Left on a list of prompts by Tumblr user the-yelling-place. Prompt: "Hello we are full grown adults fighting over this last balloon shaped like a cat's head."





	

Beca sighed. She was blankly staring at the aisles of balloons and festive child-themed party favors looking for something that would be at least half decent. Monster High. Too childish. Disney Princess? Maybe. It was still pretty young, but the kid like Tangled an awful lot, even if she was fourteen. Then she spotted it.

Hello Kitty. There was one lonely balloon left, shaped like Hello Kitty's head. Emma loved Hello Kitty. Her fingers had just tugged the item off of the hook when a voice spoke.

"Excuse me, I need that balloon," it said in a cool tone. Beca's fingers clutched it tighter instinctively.

"Sorry," Beca said, "But as you can see, I already have it in my possession." She turned and was faced with an attractive blonde maybe a little older than herself, wearing a mildly annoyed expression.

"I don't think you understand," she said. "I had it earlier and put it down to check if there was something else in stock, but there isn't."

"Had being past tense," Beca said. "It was on the hook, fair game. If you wanted it, should have taken it with you while you looked." The blonde let out a huff.

"Look, my best friend got dumped and I need this stupidly overgrown animated cat's face to make her feel better," she said. "Would you just, please, let it go?"

"Oh, sob stories?" Beca said. "Well I'm sorry to break it to you, but your best friend's love life isn't going to come out on top."

"Oh, please," the stranger said. "Now you're just being childish."

"I'm being childish?" Beca bristled. "You're trying to guilt me into giving up a balloon because your best friend is torn up over some boy. Who's being childish here?"

"Well, why do you need it?" the blonde shot back. Beca bit her lip. She didn't know this blonde and she'd never see her again after today. She took a deep breath.

"My fourteen year old half sister is next door in Barden Memorial and she just found out that the lymphocytic leukemia she thought she'd beaten two years ago is back and worse than before," Beca said. "Meanwhile, her mom is out of town on business, as per usual, which means she's there with nobody but my dad, and I can tell you right now, that's not any kind of comfort. We're basically the only thing each other has. So I was taking Hello Kitty's head, and the almost ton of her favorite candy in my bag, to see if I can't get her to stop crying about the fact that she's being admitted. Again." The blonde's jaw dropped and she looked positively horrified with herself.

"Oh," she managed. "I'm sorry."

"Boy troubles don't seem so bad now?" Beca said. "Now, excuse me, I don't want to keep Emma waiting any longer than she has to. I still have a few stops to make." She took the balloon toward the counter and paid the cheery girl behind to fill it with helium and attach it to a weight. She was about to exit the store, the blonde stopped her.

"Seriously?" Beca said.

"I just wanted to say sorry again," she said. "Honestly, I was an asshole and it sucks about your sister being sick, and I can't believe I thought Chloe's boyfriend drama was anything other than a first world problem."

"It's okay," Beca said. "Most people don't really think about these things til it's happening to them."

"No they don't," she said. "Hell, I work at Barden Memorial and I don't even think about it."

"You work at the hospital?"

"I'm a resident," she said. "Surgical. But my friend Chloe, who got dumped? She's a pediatric resident. If you like, I can get her to make sure your sister is okay, even if you can't be there."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because you're all each other has," the woman said. "And whilst I'm not comparing our situations at all, I understand that. Plus, if our little Hello Kitty disagreement is anything to go by, Chloe and Emma probably have a lot in common." Beca had to smile at that.

"Thank you," she said. "I'm Beca."

"Aubrey," the blonde said. "Can I buy you coffee to make up for being a dick?"

"Uh…" Beca checked her watch.

"Please?" Aubrey said. "I know for a fact that the coffee at the hospital blows. Rumor has it the Starbucks here makes a disproportionately massive profit for that reason alone. We don't have to make it long."

"Sure," Beca said. They headed toward the Starbucks.

"So you two are pretty tight?" Aubrey asked. "You and Emma?"

"Yeah," Beca said. "I mean, yes she's my half sister and there's a seven year age difference. But she's a good kid. And her mom's barely ever home and my dad isn't exactly comforting, and I know she sometimes feels kind of alone, and I hate that."

"She's lucky to have a half sister who cares so much," Aubrey said as they joined the queue and placed their orders. They didn't speak again until they were safely seated at a tiny table, Hello Kitty bobbing between them on the table, just above their heads. "Do you mind if I ask what the prognosis is?" The brunette's head ducked down.

"Not good," Beca said quietly. She swallowed the tight boulder in her throat. "Uh, if she has radio and chemo she might make four years, eighty percent chance."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Twelve months is generous," Beca said. Tears hit her eyes. The blonde reached out and squeezed her hand with one of hers, the other hand passing her a napkin. "Sorry. Just not fair, you know?"

"Definitely not," Aubrey said. "Medicine is how I decided that I don't believe in god."

"How so?" Beca asked.

"Well, perfectly innocent fourteen year olds shouldn't get leukemia. And last week I did surgery on a guy who shot up a convenience store after he robbed it, killed four people including an eight year old before a cop shot him in the abdomen, and he's going to be just fine. I can't believe in a higher power that claims to be just and loving and allows stuff like that to happen," Aubrey said.

"I'm with you on that," Beca said. They chatted for a few more minutes before Beca decided she really had to go.

"Look, it's not that I don't think you're nice or whatever, but I don't want to keep Emma waiting any more than I have to."

"What's your last name?" Aubrey asked, getting up. "So I can pass it to Chloe."

"Mitchell," she said. "Her name is Emma Mitchell, and they're admitting her to the pediatric ward, she'll probably be there when I get back."

"I'll have Chloe look in on you guys," she said. "Um, thanks for letting me make it up to you."

"Thanks for offering," Beca said. "And for the coffee."

"And Beca?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't forget to take care of yourself, okay? Make sure you aren't neglecting yourself to get Emma to feel better," she said. "I see it all the time. Eat properly, get some rest."

"I will," she said. "And if you like and you're at work soon, you should come say hi. Meet Emma. She's pretty awesome so far as fourteen year olds go."

"I might do that," she said. She watched the brunette hurry away. As she did, she thought that it might have been really crappy circumstances in which to meet someone, especially considering she was a complete jerk to her at the start, but she wanted to see her again. Just to check on her.

She managed to drop past Emma's room two days later. Chloe had visited the previous day, introducing herself to Emma and Beca. As Aubrey had predicted, they did seem to have a lot in common, and Emma quite liked the redheaded doctor who loved Hello Kitty almost as much as she did. When Aubrey got to the room, she saw the younger girl sleeping in bed. Beca was leaning back in the chair next to her, eyes not quite closed, headphones jammed onto her head. She knocked quietly, and it was enough to get her attention.

Beca sat up, and it took her a moment to recognize the blonde, given that she was dressed in scrubs this time. But she had two cups of coffee with her again, and she held one out, Beca taking it gratefully.

"How is she?" she asked softly.

"Tired," Beca said. "She has her first round of chemo later this afternoon. Her mom gets back tomorrow and dad's gone home for a shower and a change of clothes."

"What about you? Have you been home?"

"I went yesterday," she said. "Had a nap, changed. But I'm not leaving her today. She doesn't like anyone seeing her post chemo but me."

"Wrecks her pretty bad?"

"Yeah," she said. "She and Chloe got along like a house on fire. Crazy."

"Had a suspicion they would," she said. "Chloe's so good with kids. Pediatrics suits her. How are you holding up?"

"Fine," Beca said. "I'm used to it, I guess. Being short helps with crashing out in hospital chairs."

"What about eating properly?"

"I had a muffin earlier, dad's bringing back something decent," she said.

"Okay," she said. "Good." They were interrupted by a beeping from Aubrey's hips.

"What's that?"

"I'm needed for a surgical consult," Aubrey said. "I'll catch up with you later though. But if you need anything in the mean time, your nurse can track me down. I'll be here for a couple more hours."

"Yeah, thanks," she said. She glanced at the woman's ID tag. "Dr Posen."

"Aubrey," she said. She lifted her hand in a wave as she left. As soon as she'd left, the sleeping girl in the bed rolled over.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"What? Who? How long were you awake?" Beca asked.

"Enough to hear all of that," she said. "Who's Dr Posen?"

"She's a doc I met couple days ago when I was out," she said. "She brought me coffee."

"Oh really?" Emma said with a teasing lilt.

"Really," Beca said. "Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Oh please," Emma said. "Let me live through you, Becs. She sounded worried about you."

"We barely know each other. She and that doc who visited yesterday are best friends or something," she said.

"But is she pretty?" Emma asked. Beca rolled her eyes.

"Yes," Beca admitted. "She is."

"So she's pretty, she's a doctor, she cares enough about you to stop by and check up on us, and bring you coffee?" Emma teased.

"It's not like that," Beca said. "Em, I'm just focused on you right now."

"I know," she said. She raised the bed up into a sitting position. "Becs, I'm about to get serious on your short ass. I don't do that often, so I want to make sure you're listening."

"I'm listening," she said.

"You're my favorite person in the entire world," Emma said. "Mom uses her work to escape all this and dad… well. If I didn't have you, I'd have nothing. And I love you for that. You're the best big sister anyone could ever ask for. But you can't keep putting your life on hold to take care of me."

"Em."

"No," she said. "Like that girl in high school. Sarah? And then Melanie? Both of them were really good to you but you were more focused on me and things kind of fell apart. I want you to be happy. And I'll be happy, when you start remembering that you're twenty one and you've got a life to live as well." Beca's eyes were welling up.

"How am I supposed to concentrate on anything other than helping you through this?" she said. "Em, you're the most important thing to me in the world."

"I love you, Becs," she said. "But you can't make me your entire life. Because you and I both know that this thing is gonna take me out sooner rather than later and then what? I want you to promise me you're going to finish school. And take the doc on a date. And try and be happy. I'm not saying leave me behind, I'm not saying I don't need you around. I'm saying, it'll help me to see you happy." Beca couldn't help but start crying. She sat up on the bed next to her sister and hugged her hard.

"Dammit Em," she said. "Love you, kiddo."

"So ask that pretty doc out. And for the love of god, buy some waterproof eye makeup," she said. Beca laughed and snagged a tissue to wipe her eyes. "Do you hear me, Becs?" Beca looked her in the eye.

"Yeah," she said. "I hear you. Promise."

A few hours later, Emma had just been wheeled up to oncology for her chemo treatment. Beca was sitting forlornly in the chair next to Emma's bed. There was a knock on the door, and she looked up.

"You okay?" It was Aubrey.

"Uh, I guess?" Beca said. "Em's just gone up for chemo. She'll be back later."

"She'll be gone a few hours?"

"Yeah," Beca said. "I was just gonna wait for her. But we had a pretty big talk earlier. Actually, she sat me down and gave me a few things to think about. And I made her some promises. So, I'm taking a risk here... But do you maybe want to grab a cup of coffee and talk? If you're free, that is." Aubrey studied her for a moment.

"Yes," she said simply. "I'd like that. I'm actually off now, I was swinging past on my way out."

"Great," Beca said. She picked up her hoodie and grabbed her bag, then followed the blonde out of the hospital.

Aubrey told her that if they wanted to avoid the mall, there was a quieter coffee place about a block away and they ended up walking there. They ordered coffee and both girls added toasted Turkish bread sandwiches to their orders.

"So Emma basically called me out," Beca said. "She said I had to promise not to stop living my life just to help her through hers."

"Is that accurate?" Aubrey asked.

"It has been," Beca said. "But she - made me cry, actually - she said she knows she's not going to be around forever and that me being happy would actually make her happy. And I promised her that I would get on with living my life. Go back to school and finish my senior year. She was also sneakily awake when you were in our room earlier and made me promise to ask you out."

"She sounds like a pretty great little sister," she said.

"She is," Beca said. "She's a sassy little shit, and she's already taller than me. And she's smart and hilarious and I fucking love her." Aubrey could sense she was starting to get upset.

"What were you studying?" Aubrey asked. "At college."

"Music," Beca said. "I was actually doing two degrees at once, Composition and Engineering. But I didn't have time with Emma being sick and everything." They fell into conversation about music and then about other things, like Emma's plan was - if she made it to eighteen - to get a Hello Kitty tattoo on the day of her eighteenth birthday, if Beca got a matching one. It was nice, Beca thought, to sit and talk with Aubrey like this.

Aubrey was feeling the same. She wouldn't mind doing this again, if the brunette was okay with that. She caught a glimpse of the clock and realized Emma would probably be done with chemo very soon.

"It's probably time to start heading back," Aubrey said softly. Beca nodded and they got up. "Beca?"

"Yeah?"

"I had a nice time," she said. "Can I give you my number? I'd like to go out again sometime. Not like, right away, things are obviously pretty stressful for you right now. But when you're feeling up to it." She could see the brunette weighing it up in her head.

"Yeah," she said. "I think that would be great." She handed her cell to Aubrey and watched as she put her number in it. They walked back to the hospital and Aubrey escorted her back to Emma's room. They could see the young girl looking pale and sickly. An older man was watching her from a chair by the window. Emma looked up and saw Beca, giving a faint smile.

"Go on," Aubrey said. "Text me when you can, no hurry."

"Yeah, thanks," she said. "Promise I won't keep you waiting too long." She went into the room. Emma gave her an exhausted smile.

"Was that her?" she asked.

"Yeah," Beca said. "She dropped past just after you left. We had coffee. It was… actually really nice."

"You're right about her being pretty," Emma said. "Gonna see her again?"

"Yes," Beca said. "She said she had a good time and that she wasn't in a hurry so when I was feeling up to it I should text her." The younger girl coughed violently. Beca knew this reaction, and she reached for an emesis basin just as she began throwing up. She could see their father grimacing and stopped herself rolling her eyes. When she stopped puking, Beca brushed the hair back out of her sweaty face. She gave her a sip of water, instructing her to rinse her mouth out. Then Emma lay back into the bed.

"Make sure - you text her," Emma said, fighting off the nausea as she spoke. "Tomorrow. Tell her you had fun."

"I don't need your help with my love life," she teased.

"Yeah you do," Emma replied.

"Fine," Beca said. "I'll text her tomorrow."

"That's what you're talking about? Beca's love life?" their father said.

"What are - your suggestions?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, dad. Tell us, what exactly is considered appropriate post-chemo conversation?" Beca said dryly. He looked at them both, bewildered.

"I don't understand you two," he said. "I don't… And I can't. I can't do this." And then he left. Beca turned to Emma.

"You okay?" she said. Emma nodded weakly.

"Yeah. I know he - gets like this," she said. "He'll calm down once mom gets here." She reached for the basin again and vomited into it. Then she did it twice more. Beca helped her lay back.

"Let's get you some anti nausea meds," Beca said. "This is more than normal." She hit the buzzer and a few short moments later, a nurse was in the room.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

"Em's vomiting a lot more than normal for this soon after chemo," Beca said. "Can we get her something for it?"

"Sure," she said. "Won't be a second." She returned and injected something into Emma's IV. Beca thanked the nurse and returned Emma's bed to a more horizontal position.

"Try get some sleep, kiddo. I'll be here," she said. Emma smiled faintly and closed her eyes. Once Beca was sure her breathing was evening out, she curled up into the chair and closed her eyes as well.

When she woke, Emma was still sleeping. Someone had covered her with a blanket and there was a note on the small table.

_Emma was awake, she didn't want to wake you. Her nausea was pretty bad so I ordered her more meds and a sedative so she could sleep. I'll be back in the morning if you want to grab breakfast or something. Aubrey._

Beca smiled. She stood up and stretched, then reached over and lightly touched her sister's face. She looked like hell, still, but at least she was sleeping. She washed up in the little bathroom and then waited for Emma to wake up.

It ended up being twenty six months, eleven days. Emma didn't respond well to the chemo and radiation, and it was only a matter of months after her last cycle that the leukemia was back in full force. This time the probability of her getting any better was so slim she decided against it.

So Beca watched as they lowered the casket of her younger sister into the ground. On one side was her father and her step mother. On the other, her girlfriend of just over two years, Aubrey. She was clutching the blonde's hand tightly, crying hard. Aubrey was also shedding a few tears. Eventually the brunette turned and buried her face into Aubrey's shoulder.

The service had ended, and almost everyone had left. Beca remained, still being held tightly by Aubrey. But she peeled herself away and dug into her bag. She pulled out a small toy.

"Can you?" she asked Aubrey. Aubrey took it from her and approached the gaping hole that held the casket. Then she tossed the little Hello Kitty in and returned to Beca, kissing her on the forehead and wrapping her in her arms again.

"Come on," she said quietly. "Let me take you home." Beca just nodded but held on for a moment longer before she allowed herself to be steered toward the car. They were almost back at Aubrey's apartment when Beca sat up ramrod straight suddenly.

"Stop the car," Beca said.

"What?" she asked. "Why?" But she pulled over nonetheless. Beca got out, and Aubrey followed her, until the brunette stopped in front of a storefront. Then she pushed the door and went inside.

"Hey," she was saying to the man behind the counter. "You got an opening?" Aubrey smiled a little. She knew what was going on. It didn't take very long. Only about thirty minutes, and Beca was walking out with a fresh Hello Kitty face tattooed on her inner forearm.

"Emma would get a kick out of it," she said, Aubrey said to her.

"Yeah, she would," Beca said. "Figured since she couldn't get hers. Now, home. I'm exhausted."


End file.
